'Serviced in India' branding needed

BPO industry comes to grips with reality

US and UK citizens are being "Bangalored". What comes fast goes fast. Therefore will we be "Cape Towned", or "Shanghaied" or "Manillad", Bob Hoekstra, chief executive officer, Philips Software Centre Pvt Ltd, queried.

Hoekstra, who is also the chairman of IT and ITeS committee, Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), was speaking at a seminar on "Key HR Issues for BPO Industry".

He and many others like him have stressed on a 'Serviced in India' brand by not only building the image of the industry and dispelling the myths that surround it, but also make it career-oriented. Highlighting the importance of quality among employees, he pointed out, "Nearly 68 per cent of non-loyal customers switch because of a bad experience."

Industry leaders present at the seminar seemed to agree that a high rate of job switching among BPO employees does not reflect well on either company's performance or employees' work experience.

"As an industry, we must come together to strictly reject individuals who have had four jobs in three years. By letting such people in, we become guilty of raising false growth aspirations among these individuals. Once in, they look out for another company when they do not see quick results," said Mahesh Muzumdar, vice president and country head "� BPO, Fidelity Business Services India Pvt Ltd.

Muzumdar added that if the industry decides to take up the "risk" of rejecting such individuals for two consecutive quarters, the benefits will definitely reflect on companys' profitability and productivity in the near term.

Leaders from well-known Indian BPO companies also felt that the issue of attrition can never be solved completely. However, certain measures can be taken to ensure that it can be reduced to an extent where it will not hamper the growth of firms.

"Quite a few BPO clients have started showing their attrition rates in their SLAs (service level agreements). This will help their clients to be aware of what is in store. However, clients are more concerned about keeping up quality and the decision to ramp is mostly ours," Raju Bhatnagar, president and chief operating officer, ICICI OneSource Ltd, said.

Bhatnagar also referred to a study jointly being undertaken by Nasscom, NIMHANS (National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences) and the Canara Bank School of Management of Bangalore University.